The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-02-24

create may fix it at thirty or forty cents
and there will be conflict. Can
the legislature say the railroads
NAV charge up 20 its maximum and the
commissioners say it may not! No sensl-
bile man believes so, for we can not have
conflicting maximums. If the legislature
fails to establish a maximum we violate
the constitution, for it expressly declares
that reasonable maximum rate snail
be established. If we fail to fix the max
imum. then this commission has power to
fix 1t as high as it pleases. If we fix the
maximum then the commission under
this bill has power to Tx
different. By the bill you say
we, as a legislature, cannot fix maxi
mum and regulate the railroads, and we
want to confer the authority to do so
upon au irres ponsible body OF three men.
You want to confer upon this commission
power not exercised even by the car of
all the Russias. A power to make rules
and regulations, and to fix rates for all
the railroads in this state You want to
clothe them with a power that even the
courts of the land dare not question. You
confer upon them power which will be
calculated to unsettle everything. There Will
be no stability in rates or movement of
trains. The commission, under this bill,
can change the rates of freight or the
schedule at any moment, and these
changes may be made because of the ig-
norance, the pref udice, or caprice of the
commissioners. They can unsettle bust
ness, disturb values, retard railway build
ing, and do great and incalculable injury
to the roads and the people. No commits
sion should have such power; no commits
sion can have, under our constitution. The
interstate commerce bill confers no such
authority upon its commissioners. Under
the interstate commerce law no
such arbitrary power as fixing rates is
conferred. The great commoner, Mr..
Reagan, never dreamed of lodging such
power in commission, and strongly OPP
posed commission of any kind. Con
gress dared not confer such power, and
approached :he subject of a commission
at all after profound study and most
earnest consideration yet we trip to it as
| lightly as school girl at May party.
He argued that it was far better
for the people to return the power
of controlling the railroads
through the legislature than
it was to delegate that power to three
men whom the bill proposed to put out
of the reach of even the courts. He
showed that out of twenty six states
where the commissions had been tried
twenty-four of them were failures. This
the friends of the bill admitted. He
argued that the bill had not been calmly
studied. No intelligent inquiry had been
made as to the need of such law. No
deep thought had been bestowed upon it.
1t was simply a copy verbatim Of
Georgia law, and did not and could not
apply to Texas. 1T was shot into this
legislature at the very beginning OF the
session, without mature deliberatiOn and
without reflection, a simple copy of law
of some other state. He read a part of
section 10 of the bill as follows:
"That if any railroad company doing
business in this state, by its agents or
employees shall be guilty of violation of
the provisions of sections four and five of
this act, or the rules and regulations pro
vided and prescribed by SAID commits
sioners, and after due note of such VIC
latiOn given to either of the officers
thereof mentioned in section seven,
ample and full recompense for the wrong
or the injury done thereby to any person
or corporation as may, be directed by
said commissioners shall not be made
within thirty days from the time of such
notice, said company shall incur penal
ty for each effense of not less than one
thousand nor more than fivs thousand
dollars"
Now, under this provision, if railroad
violates one of the rules established by
the commission, the commission may Or
der recompense for the wrong, or the in
jury done thereby. And they are the
sole judges of what that recompense shall
be. 1t may be $1,000. The railroads
may refuse to pay it. Then they incur a
penalty of from $1,000 to $4,000. Did
you ever here of anything like this? Was
any such power ever conferred upon any
body of men? The whole of the section
| have read is unconstitutional.
He further stated that, as the interstate
commerce bill was now law, the neces-
sity for state commission, if such
necessity had ever existed, had been
greatly weakened. The interstate law
would regulate all frelghts going out and
coming into the state. All the cotton,
cattle, grain and other products going
out, all the clothing we wear, nearly all
our food and articles of luxury and adorn-
ment, which are brought in, would be
regulated by the interstate commerce
law, leaving only local freights between
local points to be regulated by state
commission. He insisted that the carrying
traffic of imports and exports was ten
times greater than local traffic, and con
sequently commission to regulate the
local carrying trade would be useless.
He urged the senators to do what the
constitution enjoins them to do, regulate
the railroads by legislative enactments,
and not by a commission. Bring about
competition by wholesome laws and this
great problem will be solved. Your com
mission will not bring about competition
will correct no evil and may do and
believe will do, iucaculable injury.
Pending further discussion Senator
McManus called up the bill changing the
time of holding courts in the twenty
eighth judicial district, and it passed.
Senate adjourned until this morning at
10 o'clock.
House.